The Piano in The Room
by TheEvenMadderHatter
Summary: In this short story, Elizabeth finds an old apartment to stay in while searching for a new job. She finds that it is inhabited by a man named Roderich, who was a very famous pianist. However, he inhabits the apartment for a strange reason; he is dead. After dying of an unknown cause before he could compose his final song, he is now forced to haunt the apartment where he once lived.


takes hat off and formally bows* Greetings, I am TheMadderHatter. To start things off, thought I would post an old AusHun fic from last year when I first started of writing fan fics. While my newer things are better than this one, I just couldn't help but upload this, since it was my first. So I hope you enjoy this short little story o' mine, and my apologies if anyone seems ooc.

Many years ago, a pianist lived in a small apartment. He was a very tall and thin figure, with black hair slicked back neatly, except for a single curl that stubbornly stuck up, and a pointed nose which held up a pair of glasses. He was well known and well respected throughout the local community, and his music was enjoyed by all those around him. He was incredibly talented at what he did, and was praised multiple times for his accomplishments. Despite how great as he was, death could not be stopped. The young man died at the age of 24, which was far too young to have such a great life taken away. At his funeral, many attended, and paid their respects. He would be missed dearly by the community. They took everything from his apartment except for his music sheets and piano, and the apartment was boarded up.

Many, many years later, after many of those who lived in the town and knew the young many, had either left, a young girl moved into the apartment after finding it for a low price online. Her possessions were few, only consisting of a back pack containing clothes, and a picture of her parents, and the small amount of money she had in her pockets.

She entered her newly obtained apartment, wondering how she would ever pay it off. She had lied about her bank account in order to get the apartment. It's not like she had much choice; after all, she was on her own now. Looking around she sees how it is absent of furniture and everything that makes a room feel like home, except, for a single piano at the end of the room.

Growing curious about the old piano, she sets her bag down and walks over to the piano. She brushes a little dust off of it, before gently pressing some of the keys. It was still in tune and seemed to be in pristine shape, other than it looking dusty and old. She sits down at the bench and begins to play a lovely melody. As she continues to play, the air around her grows colder, and she feels as if she is being watched, so she stops. When she stops, the feeling that she had of being observed goes away, and the room temperature goes back to normal.

"How odd…" she mutters, and then shakes her head. It was getting late. It would be best for her to see if there were any blankets or pillows she could use to make a bed out of. Out of pure luck, she finds a few old blankets and a pillow. Putting two blankets down on the floor along, she lies down and covers up with the extra blanket she had. She begins to slowly drift asleep and dreams of the old piano.

In her dream, she is in the room with the piano, as she was when she arrived to the apartment. But this time there is someone else there; someone sitting at the piano. She quietly approaches the person as they play the piano. They play a beautiful, but emotional and melancholic song. She is about to speak, when she is awoken by a sound.

She wakes up with a start and looks around the room, to see nothing in there. Assuming it was just a raccoon in the trash outside; she lies back down and drifts off to sleep once more.  
She once again drifts into a strange dream world where she is in the room with the piano and the piano player. She goes to tap their shoulder to gain their attention, but hesitates and stops.  
The pianist also stops, and their hands move away from the piano, and they turn to face the girl.  
"My, you look beautiful." The pianist says as he turns to her. He was very handsome to her. He was tall and slender, had black hair slicked back neatly, all except for a single curl that stubbornly stuck up. He also had a sharp nose that held a pair of glasses up.  
Once again, she was about to speak, but was awoken by a sound. This time it was her alarm going off, telling her to wake up. She had a job interview that day, and did not want to be late.  
She hurriedly got ready, and went out the door.

"What a strange dream…" she mutters to herself as she walks the streets of the town she now lived in. she continued to walk and wander until she realized she was lost. For all she new, she could be half way across town by now. She began to not only worry for her interview, but also for her safety. She was new and not yet familiar with this area. She could call for help, but that would be no use. She had no family and no friends in the area. As she turned to go back the way she came, a voice spoke up.

"My you are beautiful." A familiar voice says, and she turns to meet a familiar face.  
"Y-You." She says, surprised, yet calm about this. She had just found the pianist she had dreamt about the previous night.

"You appear to be lost; do you need assistance in finding your way?" He asks her politely.  
"O-Oh, yes, please." She says, and then explains how she is running late for a job interview. He tells her that she is only a few doors down from where she needs to go, and must have taken the long way there

She turns around to leave, but realizes she forgot to thank him. She turns around to do so, only to find that he had vanished.  
After the strange encounter, she continued on to her job interview and got the job. She wanted to celebrate but had no one to celebrate with, so instead she went back to her apartment to rest.  
Upon returning to her apartment, she went over to the piano to play. Unlike the melody she had heard before in her dream, the one she played was light and happy. As she played she once again felt as if she was being watched and the room began to grow cold, and like before, she stopped.  
She looked to the clock. It was only four thirty in the afternoon, so she decided she would rest and explore the area after a nap. She laid down on the spot she had made her bed, and closed her eyes to rest. Once again, she heard the piano playing. However, this time, she was not asleep.

She opened her eyes and looked over to see a figure at the piano. She was overcome with fear and curiosity. However, she was overcome with more curiosity rather than fear. She quietly got up and approached the figure, and listened to them play. Getting a strange sense of déjà vu, she went to tap his shoulder, but hesitated, and stopped.

Much like before in her dream, he stopped playing, and turned to her. But this time he said nothing, but rather smiled at her.

"Who are you?" she asks quietly, temporarily unable to find her voice.

"I am Roderich, the great pianist who lives in this humble home." He says and bows in an old fashion manner.

"Why are you here?" she asks.

"Did you not hear me before? I live here young lady, this is my home." He says in a calm voice. She shakes her head.

"No, I heard you; it's just I live here now. This apartment belongs to me, I bought it."

"Ah, so you are who owns it now. Please, do not mind me then, you will not even know I am here. However, in any case you do need me; all you need to do is play." He says, and gets up and leaves. Before she can protest.

"What a strange man." She says.

She then walks over to the piano, and begins to play, and like Roderich said, he appeared.  
"Need me so soon?" he chuckles.

"I was wondering if you could explain something. Why do I need to play in order for you to appear?" she asks bluntly, not wanting to dance around the subject.  
He sits down beside her on the piano bench.

"I do not mean to alarm you, but I believe I am dead."

"I'm sorry?" she asks in confusion.

"You see, long ago, I died." He says, and explains the history of this apartment.  
He explains how he was a musician who was loved by many, but died of an unknown reason at such a young age.

"However, the cause of my death is still unknown today." He says, and lets the words sink into the girl. "I don't even mind being dead, I just wish they could still here my music as I play it." He says and presses a few keys on the piano. He begins to play the same melancholy song as before, but stops at the same point as he does every time.  
"It's a shame, this was one of my greatest works, and I never was able to finish it…" he says, and hangs his head sadly. The girl still seemed to be lost in her thoughts. He smiles sadly, and gets up to leave the girl to her thoughts, before disappearing once again, leaving her alone at the piano.  
Many years pass and the two grow closer. They shared many stories, played many songs, and had an overall happy time together. Nevertheless, this would soon change.

"Hey…. Roderich?" Clair, as he had learned that's what her name is, said as she opened the door.  
"What is it?" he asks as he finishes playing a song on the piano.

"I… I'm going to have to move away…" she says as she inters the apartment. Roderich stops playing the piano.

"My father… he is not going to be able to take care of himself at this age and with my mother gone…" she starts to tear up.

"No, understand. They need your help. Please, be with them."

"But I will come back, ok? I won't leave you alone here." She says and looks up to him. "Just play your song so I can find the apartment, and when I get back, we can finish it, ok?"He nods and notices she already had packed up her few possessions, which all fit into the backpack she had carried the day she arrived. She looked down at the floor and whispered a sad good bye before leaving, and closing the door.

However, she would not return, and the song would never be completed, as she would soon forget about the piano and the pianist she had met those many years ago.  
The apartment was left as she had found it; completely barren, except for a single piano and its sheet music, and the sad pianist, now standing in the room alone.  
Every night at midnight, he plays his song, in hopes that she would one day return, and every night he stops at the same place in the melody.


End file.
